


Three-Player Duo

by LuarRosa



Series: Playing Cards (Haha Get It) [2]
Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Reality, Backwards Long Jump, F/F, Gaming, Gen, Guitar Hero - Freeform, Hina Hikawa Speedrun Strats, Mario Kart, Minor Character Death Mention, Possibly Unrequited Love, Ridge Racer, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:47:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26887579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuarRosa/pseuds/LuarRosa
Summary: Aya Maruyama sits in her good friend Hina Hikawa's house. A reality breaking decision made by the latter splits time into two. Gaming ensues.
Relationships: Hikawa Hina & Maruyama Aya, Hikawa Hina & Shirasagi Chisato, Hikawa Hina/Maruyama Aya, Hikawa Sayo/Seta Kaoru, Maruyama Aya/Shirasagi Chisato
Series: Playing Cards (Haha Get It) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1961743
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this fic took more than an entire month to write and I have no actual reason for that besides ????? so I hope you like and subscribe for more if you enjoy this content have fun

Aya Maruyama wasn’t a gamer, by any means. But if there’s one thing she was good at, it’s trying her best.

When Hina Hikawa (her band’s guitarist and Aya’s good friend) invited her over, she didn’t know what to think of it. But then again, does anyone with that girl? Aya’s easily stressed mind didn’t like thinking about it too much, so she considered refusing. Another bandmate of hers, however, said it would be good for her to go out more and build relationships. And who was Aya to ever disagree with Chisato Shirasagi?

That question was easily answered by Aya sitting on Hina’s bed, while the latter rolled from one end to another continuously, almost falling off.

“Hina-chan? Is something wrong?”

“Nooooooo,” she responded, still rolling.

“Well, um...” Aya spoke without first thinking of a sentence to say. “What are we going to do today?”

“That’s for you to find out and me to find out! That’s why I’m thinking of something right now!”

THAT’S what she’s doing? “Shouldn’t you have decided that before invitin--”

A doorbell rang. They heard the front door being opened a short instant after. When Aya glanced at Hina, the girl was now sitting straight, frozen in place, with her eyes shining like a cat about to jump for something.

“Aah~... Fleeting…” echoed a deep yet familiar from below. Hina’s focus was brought to a smile which, as cute as it was, concerned Aya.

CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER:

[Aya](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26887579/chapters/65606974)

[Hina](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26887579/chapters/65607184)

[Sayo](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26887579/chapters/66190186)


	2. Aya "The Queen" Maruyama

Hina shoots up, and runs downstairs as fast as she can.

“Kaoru-kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!” she screams and follows with “Yahoo! Yahoo! Ya-ya-ya-ya-yahoo!” as she jumps down her staircase to the living room.

The sound of her voice dissipates completely.

You are, at the present moment, Aya Maruyama. And you think your friend just fell through the floor.

You can barely hear someone ask about it, but the discussion the questioning brings shows no concern. You can’t tell what else they’re saying.

You’d get up and ask yourself why no one is doing anything, especially her sister, but the idea that someone just disappeared magically in real life right now and it’s Hina of all people leaves you sitting still on her bed, unable to move.

Minutes pass, and your finger hovers above a trusted friend’s text messages. Should you text her? What if she’s busy? Was one of the voices you heard talk downstairs really hers??? If so, what could she be doing there???? Did she not care about Hina????? WILL SOMEONE TELL YOU ANYTHING???????

“Aya-chan?”

With oddly convenient timing, she appears by the doorway in front of you.

“Chisato-chan!? What are you doing here? And what happened to Hina??”

“I was about to ask the same.”

Chisato explains [her side of the story](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26038912), detailing why she and Kaoru came, and why no one did anything about Hina. 

“So Sayo-chan said it’s normal?”

“I had no reason not to believe her.”

“I don’t think you were wrong in doing so…” You ponder on it for a moment. “If it wasn’t Hina we’re talking about, I would doubt it. But knowing her, she’ll come back unharmed! Maybe less harmed than before, even.”

Chisato giggles.

“In the meantime, we could, um…” you look around Hina’s room. The whole place is a mess only in specific spots, which makes you think it’s 100% deliberate. “She does have a lot of games over there…”

“Aya-chan, don’t you think it’s rude to fuss around someone’s belongings without their permission, much more without their presence?”

“Eh!?”

“I’m kidding. I’m sure Hina-chan wouldn’t mind,” she says, grabbing a copy of Mario Kart Wii from a small pile.

Mario Kart… You used to play that with children in the family, and you were fairly good at it! By now, your sister must have surpassed you already, but you don’t take Chisato as someone with free time to practice a videogame, so you’re confident you can beat her!

You reach the character select screen. She immediately goes for Rosalina.

“Which one do I pick, Chisato-chan?”

“I don’t know, what kind of characters do you tend to like?”

That question narrows it down so much, now you’re embarrassed to have asked it. “Princesses…”

“I did expect you to choose Peach because of her dress,” she says, “though Daisy would be a good choice if you don’t want to lose.”

“Eh!? What is that supposed to mean?”

A subtle smile shines on her face.

Race after race happens, and she wins all of them. She makes you feel like every item in the game is unfair. You didn’t even know shells could be thrown backwards!

Since when was she this good? Since when were you this bad?

In any case, you don’t let it bother you too much. It isn’t your first time being terrible at something, and it certainly won’t be your last. Chisato thinks differently, however, as she’s had more moments of frustration than you while racing, despite the constant victories.

“I didn’t know you were such a gamer, Chisato-chan,” you tell her, while the game sits in the track select screen.

“Everyone has secret skills, don’t they?” She lets her weight fall back a little.

“T-they do?”

“You included.” A few seconds pass. “Probably.”

“You’re even hesitating!?” you cry out.

“Sorry! Sorry! If you wanna know, I occasionally play Wii games to relax. When I have the time, of course.”

A great actress and idol must have a very busy life indeed; it’d be too much to expect her to play a lot. Though she takes quite some time to answer texts even in her free time, which makes you wonder if she’s playing Mario Kart instead of looking at her phone.

Wait, that’s none of your business. You shouldn’t be thinking too much about her life…

“Would you like me to teach you some tricks, Aya-chan?”

Her voice brings you back to reality. When you notice, she’s smiling at you and offering her hand.

You grab it and hold it, with all the gentleness you can.

“Aya-chan.”

“Yes?”

“I really appreciate the affective gesture, but I was expecting you to hand me the controller?

Oh of course that’s what she wanted you don’t know why you didn’t realize that before or why you were so eager to just hold her hand out of nowhere that’s so djfhksfgJHFDGFSDHKTJG--

“Aya-chan?”

“Oh, yes, sorry! Here you go!”

She has herself driving in the time trial mode with the drifting on manual, so this can be done without many obstacles.

The way she plays is enticing to you. Not that Chisato is a pro Mario Kart Wii player or anything, but she seems to know this game quite well. She looks to be having fun, too. That’s always pleasant.

“So, Aya-chan?” she calls for you, now very close to your face. You almost fall backwards in response.

“Yes, Chisato-chan?”

“Would you like to try now?” She offers back to you the controller. “If you’d like, I could help you with my hand on the wiimote like this,” she says, resting her soft hands on yours with such a touch that,

jdfhdkdukjfrfhsfs/d;s.,dfm,dgfdjb????????

“Sure!” you accept, now concerned with sweating too much on Hina’s controller AND on Chisato’s hands.

She holds it with you as discussed, turning corners and pressing buttons as you do the same.

The slow and gentle turning of your hands is so light, you feel like the breeze is carrying you through the motions. She’s barely any forceful. Maybe this is what it’s like to drive like the wind?

“Aya-chan, you’re too stiff! If you don’t want me to turn your arms too hard, you have to do it too…”

Oh.

You move your body a bit more.

“There you go! You’re doing it!” You can’t look to check, but she sounds to be smiling as she says this, and you feel like crying.

You feel proud too! Wheelies and drifts get you to the finish way faster than before. Then again, that doesn’t change your skill in racing others with items, but well…

“Now do the last lap by yourself!”

“Of course!”

She lets you go, and watches you play.

It bothers you a little bit. Does it? It doesn’t. It does.

“Is something wrong, Aya-chan?”

“No, I’m alright! I’m just playing, see?”

“Indeed. You are performing very well.”

She’s right! But something’s missing.

You finish the race, and announce so out loud after realizing she wasn’t looking at the screen. You suppose Chisato can be easily distracted sometimes. She congratulates you on the feat, which makes you very happy.

“Shall we race each other again?”

“Yes!”

You have lots of fun doing so, but the missing feeling still lingers. Maybe you liked it better when she was teaching you. When she guided you with her hands. Her hands… Oh. Oh no.

She shifts in her seat, her body coming slightly closer to you. Surely not on purpose, you think.

You come close to her, approaching her as fast as you want. You even tilt your body with the turns to show how intensively you were driving!

She does the same, suddenly making you two sit the closest you could be. Passing the finish line, the game congratulates someone for winning, but neither look to the screen to tell who.

Chisato puts her controller down and moves her hand towards you, but stops before doing anything.

You both look up at each other simultaneously and, in her eyes, you see two of the most beautiful starry skies to ever bless your sights; you’ve never seen the actress show this much genuine emotion towards you before…

But you want to see more. You want to see more of this girl you care about oh so much. You slowly move your hand towards the one she stopped moving, and take hold of that feeling. Something you both feel; emotions that cannot be concealed by anxiety or repression; an urge to embrace each other.

You feel like a teddy bear as she hugs you with the most amount of care she’s put into anything in her life.

She breaks the silence by asking:

“Aya-chan… Can I tell you something?”

“Of course…”

“I…” 

You can feel her movements become more tense.

“I think you were really good today. You did a good job.”

“Thank you, Chisato-chan… You’ve taught me well,” you say, giggling.

She holds you a little tighter.

“But can I tell you something?”

You didn’t mean to ask that out loud. Why did you do that?

“Oh? Go ahead.”

No, don’t go ahead, Aya, please, do not say it, you are not ready,

“I think…”

She looks at you, eager to listen, but with a kind of concern she always has when she notices you’re nervous. It weirdly encourages you more, as you associate it with her words of affirmation to get you going in performances. You feel like you should say it.

“I think I l-” But you cannot. When the word reaches your mouth with all the improbable courage you could have, a stop sign hits you as hard as it could. A kiss. One that might be messy, and that might make her look happy and confused at the same time when she finishes; one that you assume makes you look the same. You hold a hand on her cheek.

“Was that what you meant to say?”

“Yes. Yes it was.”

“Do you want to say it again?”

You say it again. And again. And again. And again. And-

“-bye!” a third party shouts from above, followed by a sudden *thunk* loud enough for you to believe a human person just fell against the bedroom floor.

You and Chisato stop being silly with each other and take a moment to check what just happened beside Hina’s bed.

There she is. Lying on the ground.

“Oh hey, Chisato-chan! When did you get here! What are you and Aya doing? It looks boppin’! Can I join?”

“Um…”

“Hello, Hina-chan,” Chisato speaks in her normal serious tone again, as if nothing just happened. “What Aya-chan and I were doing is none of your business, and I do not think you can j-”

“HINA-CHAN…” You jump onto her on the floor. “WHERE WERE YOU WHAT HAPPENED I THOUGHT YOU WENT TO HELL WAAAAAHHHH”

“Aya-chan, how silly! I just left for a few minutes and you’re crying?” Hina enjoys herself in laughter, seemingly unaware of how many hours it’s been.

“Aya-chan, you don’t need to cry…” tells Chisato, pretending the tears in your eyes weren’t already there before Hina manifested from thin air. “In any case,” she says, her gaze turning to the bedroom window, “it is very late, and I think we must both go.”

“Awww, please stay! I didn’t get to have fun with you guys!”

“Sorry, Hina-chan, but you never invited me over, much less for an unscheduled sleepover. I came here with Kaoru, who, at this point, might as well have forgotten that fact. I have things to do by the morning.”

“What about you, Aya-chan?” Hina grabs your hands with a bit too much force, staring at you with her eyes shining like Puss in Boots’ did in Shrek 2.

Well, you can’t refuse, right? You look at Chisato, hoping she knows you mean to ask for help without saying it.

“I don’t know your whole schedule, but there’s nothing band-related we have to do tomorrow, so surely you could spend the night with Hina-chan, yes? Any discussions about  _ recent events _ you might have could be settled tomorrow morning, I believe?”

“Y-yes!”

“In that case, I must bid you both goodbye.”

Chisato leaves the scene so quickly, you’re barely able to process the past half-hour.

“Hina-chan, was today real? Please tell me…”

“I don’t know if anything is real. Anyway, what kind of boppin’ things did you do without me? Please tell me!!!” she mocks (ironically or not, you can’t tell), while trying to find you some clothes to wear to sleep.

“We just played Mario Kart in your Wii! That’s all!”

“Is that true?”

“Yes!”

“That’s weird. I don’t have Mario Kart Wii.”

“EH!? YOU DON’T!?”

“Just kidding! I felt like lying. But I’m glad you two had fun!” She smiles at you. “Also I forgot to mention there’s no extra beds here, but you don’t mind, right?”

“Wait, wha-”


	3. Hina "The Jack" Hikawa

Hina shoots up, and runs downstairs as fast as she can.

But before she reached the staircase, something grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.

“Onee-chan! What’s wrong? Let me go!” she pleaded, turning to realize she was addressing the wrong person.

“Shh! Hey, Hina, it’s me, Hina!” said another herself.

“Hina! What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to warn you about the stairs! Don’t do the backwards long jump! You’ll be teleported to the past and create a time loop!”

“Like you?”

“Yes! Don’t do it!”

“I won’t!”

“Thank you!” Hina gave Hina a thumbs up and jumped backwards, clipping through the wall behind her. “Good--” She disappeared fully before she finished speaking.

What a nice conversation that was. After it, Hina took her own advice, and descended in a regular, medium-paced and front-faced manner.

“Kaoru-kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunn!”

“Hello, Hina!” greeted her good friend Kaoru Seta, who was as excited to see Hina as Hina was to see her.

“Hellooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Good afternoon, Hina-chan,” greeted Chisato, Hina’s bandmate and friend.

“Chisato, you’re here too?” Hina screamed in joy, running up to Chisato and grabbing her hands a bit too forcefully. “What brings you two here together? Are you on a date?”

A d-date!?” The implication flabbergasted Chisato.

“Do you want to spend the rest of it here? Come! Let’s play some boppin’ games with Aya-chan!” the boppin’ girl said, pushing both of her friends up the stairs with her hands on their backs. “You can come too if you want, Onee-chan!”

“Wait, Hina!”

Hina stopped, and turned to her sister Sayo.

“I…”

Could it be? Hina’s sister wants to spend time with her and her friends?

“I am gay.”

Hina gasped in such a welcome surprise.

“Me too! We should get you a girlfriend!”

“Wait, that’s not-”

“GUYS DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO GET A GIRLFRIEND? ASKING FOR A SISTER,” shouted Hina, already by her door in an instant.

As she asked such a question without listening to her Sayo’s protests, Hina barged in the room and walked to find Chisato sitting on a chair near the door, offering her no answers. Kaoru stood a little deeper in the room, winking to Hina as if to tell her “Oh, you know.” Finally, at the opposite end from the door, she found Aya lying on her bed.

“Do you know, Aya-chan?”

“Know what?”

“How to get a girlfriend!”

“A-a-a girlfriend!? How would I know that?”

“Wow, Aya-chan, have you never dated anyone before?”

“That’s not the prob-”

“Hina-chan, don’t make fun of someone for not going on dates,” said Chisato. “She could have many reasons, none of them being shameful.”

“Yeah! And how many girls have  _ you  _ kissed, anyway?” Aya asked mockingly.

“Like...” She counted with her hands for a moment. “two!”

The room went silent.

“Oh.”

“She really just said that.”

Hina approached Aya’s face with her own until their noses touched. “Would you like to be my third, Aya-chan?”

“N-not in front of everyone…”

“Kaoru, why did we come here again?”

“Why, Chisato, you told us to come after I said I wanted to play a game called Ca-”

“Ooh, videogames! Let’s play something!” Hina jumped towards a pile of games on the floor. “I have lots of them!” She took copy after copy. “Call of Duty, Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3, Call of Duty 4, Call of Duty 5, Call of Duty 6, Call of Duty 7, Call of Duty 8,”

“Some of those aren’t real, right?”

“Call of Duty Black Ops, Call of Duty Black Ops 2, Call of Duty Black Ops 3, Call of Duty Black Ops 4, Call of Duty Black Ops 5,”

“Hina,” Chisato called for her, concerned.

“Okay, okay, I’ll breathe.” She took a long breath. “Candy Crush Saga,” she kept listing, showing a Wii case of the game.

“That’s not even-”

“Cars, Cars 2, Cars 3 Driven to Win, Cars Race-O-Rama, Castle Crashers, Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse HD,”

“Wait, Hina, what about Cars Mater-National Championship?” asked Kaoru, with a surprisingly serious tone.

“Oh, my sister has that one!”

“I see. Well, if you’ll excuse me,” she said, turning towards the door, “I must ask her permission to play it. See you soon!”

She left the room.

“Anyway, Castlevania, Castlevania Chronicles, Castlevania Judgement, Castlevania Aria of Sorrow, Castlevania Circle of the Moon, Castlevania Curse of Darkness, Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow, Castlevania Harmony of Despair,”

“Hina-chan, why are you still listing games?” asked Chisato. “Kaoru already left.”

“A-and why do you have so many games that start with C?” asked Aya, crying and shaking in her seat.

“That’s just how it is,” she said, pointing at the other 25 piles of games she had. “And what else would I do? Everything in my mind right now is videogames and A…”

“And?” asked Chisato.

“WE SHOULD PLAY GUITAR HERO ACTUALLY,” Hina desperately said, grabbing a guitar controller from the floor and heading to the living room, expecting the other two to follow.

There, she gave Chisato a second guitar, gave Aya a regular controller, and started setting the game up.

“You have two of these?” asked Chisato, surprised.

“Onee-chan and I played together a few times! They’re not that expensive!”

“Why was Chisato-chan automatically given the second one? I want it too!”

“I play the bass guitar, Aya-chan. What instrument do you play?”

“Well certainly not the Xbox One controller!” The vocalist controlled her voice so her cries of despair wouldn’t seem too real. “How do you play with this, anyway?”

“It’s very easy!” explained Hina. “Green notes are LT, red LB, yellow RB, blue RT, and oranges are A!”

“Huh?”

“Anyway, let’s play!”

Hina put on Poppin’ Shuffle by Poppin’Party, and the three idols picked the way they would play: Hina had Guitar on Expert difficulty, Chisato had Bass on Medium, and Aya had Guitar on Easy.

One song later, Aya and Chisato gasped for air after the surprisingly tiring activity. “Hina-chan, why would you choose a four and a half minute song as our first?” asked the bassist.

“I can choose a smaller one next, if you want!”

So she did, and they played Killer Queen by Queen, followed by crushcrushcrush by Paramore; by this point, Aya and Chisato both had changed their difficulties to a level higher than they had before.

“One of our songs! Do you have our music, Hina-chan?”

She scrolls to the P category in the setlist, where sit all kinds of custom maps she found online.

“There! Yura-Yura Ring-Dong Dance by Pastel*Palettes!” Aya pointed, jumping in excitement. “Chisato-chan! Let’s play!”

“Would you mind playing that one, Hina-chan?”

“Not at all!” She smiled, glad to entertain her friends so much.

When they started, Aya and Chisato sang the whole thing together. The pre-recorded game audio was entirely drowned out by their beautiful duet. They danced and spun around each other, singing and playing  _ their  _ song.

Hina didn’t join. She was having fun too, of course, and was playing as effortlessly well as always. But she wasn’t laughing like they were. She felt like saying something about the guitar in that song, and how much she loves playing her instrument. Or how cute they looked when they smiled at each other. Both things were true. But she reminded herself of how people say it’s rude to interrupt others’ conversations like that. Not that she cares most of the time, but she couldn’t think of that right now. She could only think about that song and A-

“Sayo-chan! Do you want to play with us?”

Aya’s question makes you look over at Sayo standing in the corridor, with a very hot mug in her hand, and an expression of shock on her face.

“Maruyama-san, Shirasagi-san.” A cough. “I didn’t expect you to play that game.”

“Hina-chan introduced us to it! It’s very fun! So, will you join?”

“If it’s not too much of a bother,” she slowly replied, “I suppose I will.”

“Here you go, Onee-chan!” Hina handed her guitar to her sister.

The song chosen was one the guitarist was familiar with: Avant-garde HISTORY by Roselia, her band.

Much like her sister, Sayo played to the best of her ability, and what best that was; what Hina had in talent, Sayo had in practice.

And still, the way they played was very different at the same time. If Hina’s playing was a gentle but skilled touch akin to the slow stream of a river, Sayo’s playing was a fierce but precise violence akin to the waterfall that the river led to. Her fingers holding each note on the fretboard and strumming with the melody sang a song as loud as the music they played in the game.

“Pog!” shouted Hina, in awe of her sister’s skill. Aya and Chisato seemed to share the feeling.

When the song was finished, she was received with applause. “Thank you, thank you very much. I would offer an encore, but it is rather late, so I must ask if you two plan on going home?”

“Oh jeez, you’re right!”

“I do have a full schedule in the morning, so I’m afraid I must go indeed. How about you, Aya-chan?”

“Ah, I--”

“Aya-chan don’t goooooooooo! Pleeeeease! We can have a sleepover!” Hina begged.

“Sorry Hina-chan, I’m too tired… I should sleep in my own bed tonight…”

“Can I sleep there too, then?”

Aya looks at Hina, trying to say no.

“She means no, Hina,” Sayo interrupts the staring contest. “There’s always another day to do that.”

“Aww…”

“We can hang out tomorrow, if you want!”

Hina gasped. “You promise?”

“Of course!”

“Well, goodbye Hina-chan; Sayo-chan. In case Kaoru hasn’t left yet, please do tell her I said goodbye when you kick her out the door, yes? Are you coming, Aya-chan?”

“In a minute!”

Sayo waved at them, and went upstairs, yawning. Chisato closed the door behind her, and stood a few steps away, by the street.

“Hey, Hina-chan…”

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“Thank you for inviting me over. It was very fun. We should do it more often! If you want to, of course.”

“You know I do!”

“And I want to give you something in return. For making my day.”

Before Hina could ask what that something was, Aya leaned herself onto Hina without waiting for a response, and gently kissed her on the lips. She giggled, noticing Hina’s face turning red.

“Now you have a third.” Aya got up. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then! Bye, Hina-chan! Good night!”

“Good… Goodbye, Aya-chan…”

She was finally left alone, sitting on the floor, completely speechless. Not that there was much she could speak about anyway, because the only thing she could think of at that moment was…

Aya Maruyama.

And that wasn’t a bad thing anymore.


	4. Sayo "The Ace" Hikawa

Ah, peace. It’s late at night, Hina is long asleep, and you can do anything you want now. No offence to your sister, of course, but sometimes you just need some alone time, in which no one can bother you.

Yes, the night time is a time of rest, you of all people know that. But rest is not always synonymous with sleep; it can just as well mean working on enjoying yourself after a week of working on that which is useful for you and others.

And what can you do to enjoy yourself? Playing the guitar is the first thing to come to mind, of course, but it applies to the aforementioned tiresome activities; eating is always very fun and satisfying too, but you do not feel like it would be a good idea to do such a thing so late at night. Therefore, the only thing you can think of that allows you to express yourself in ways you could never otherwise, and that is sure to provide you quick, immediate fun for a few hours is:

R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 for the Sony PlayStation.

Well, videogames in general would do the trick. But tonight, this is the one.

You boot the game up, and it begins by explaining the workings of a Grand Prix: it has 3 stages, the first and second of which have 2 races, while the last has 4. What you are expected to do as the player is to qualify through the first, second and last stage by placing 3rd, 2nd, and 1st in their races respectively. Which does mean you have to win 4 races in a row by the endgame.

Sounds intense! Good. While you are not familiar with the racing game genre, you feel like this entry respects your capability to learn from your successes and failures, telling only what you need to know, but not any less.

It then gives you the option to select what team to be a part of. Each of them corresponds to a different difficulty level. Since you are new to the game, the logical option is the easiest one, but the team just one level above it is the Japanese one. You are conflicted. Well, you could always start over if you need.

Who is this man shouting at you? He shows disbelief in your skills, and calls you an inexperienced punk. You’ll have him know you are only one of those things.

He says he’s a team manager, and you’re the rookie driver working for him this season. No previous connections? No established origin? You imagine the game isn’t very story focused.

The option to choose a sponsor is given to you, but you don’t understand enough about car production to know what to choose. Two of the sponsors are classified as DRIFT, and two are classified as GRIP. Since this game is based on mountain racing, you will choose the former.

You perform your first race, barely passing the qualification standards. Nonetheless, your manager congratulates you, saying he’s impressed you didn’t start crying in the middle of the road.

It’s enough to disappoint you, still. 3rd place? Perhaps the game is less beginner friendly than you thought. Unless you learn it fast, you may not get through the final stage.

In the second race, you get 2nd place. Impressive. Perhaps you really can develop this skill as you progress. Your manager is as surprised as you are, but still expects you to fail. You don’t know whether to feel frustrated, or to accept his truth as yours. Only the next race will tell.

Because of your poor performance, your team could not afford a change of cars for the second stage; it is forced to modify your old car instead.

Said car is taken to a much harder course than the ones you’ve previously faced, one lap longer than before. Despite this, you manage to get to 2nd in the last lap. You can qualify. As long as you keep your pace, you can qualify.

But Sayo Hikawa has had enough of being in second place. Sayo Hikawa has had enough of being in someone else’s shadow. Sayo Hikawa has had enough of being “good enough.”

Sayo Hikawa wins the race in its last minute, milliseconds ahead of the other driver.

Your manager is very proud! He slips up, and mentions a man called Giuliano… Is he revealing a piece of his backstory to you? You see. This must be another method the game implements to encourage you to want to finish it. A story. Curiosity. Only winners can hear it. The second race of the second heat is about to begin. You are about to make him even prouder!

You place 2nd again.

Your manager doesn’t seem disappointed at all… He tells you that you have talent… Real talent…

“Man, nothing's gonna change how I feel about you now. You can go ahead and mess up any way you like, but I'll stand behind you 100%”

He’s. He’s excited for you! He wants to see you succeed! You feel like you can do anything with his support. You are very happy with your manager.

The pressure of the last stage’s win requirements doesn’t even get to your head in its first race, as you drive perfectly well, even dancing your body along to the game’s great soundtrack. Your manager is very impressed!

Second race now, and you start fast, easily passing by each racer as if they’re traffic cones on the road. You get to the last two and… Oh no, you hit a wall! Pay more attention, Sayo, you’re not your sister. You cannot afford to get cocky. Your driving starts to show restraint, imprecision, and anxiety. You hit more corners, almost reaching the finish line in time, but ultimately failing. It was a nice streak, but perhaps you are not fit for the job after all.

> RETRY  
> END GRAND PRIX

CHANCE 3

Or you could try again!

Same course, same drivers. You pass by each racer as fast as you could, even if noticing you do it a little slower this time. This upsets you, but you must focus. You get to 1st place. Now your only job is to keep the pace up. You hit the wall again in the last lap! But somehow, you’ve developed your driving technique enough to afford that one mistake, and with that, you get qualified.

Your manager is on the phone. He mentions Giuliano again, and tells you to ignore everything you just heard him say. Well! Onto the next race!

The course this time is called Heaven and Hell. Fitting that name is, as your determination to win burns a flame in your heart that pushes you to a victory full of rage. Only one race left now.

“Former RTS Driver Yazaki breaks 13 year silence to return as PRC Manager!”

“The truth behind Ace Driver Giuliano's death— The Yazaki link revealed!”

You see the headlines. Your manager looks at you with a face of regret. He says he left racing after the incident (accident?). But to redeem himself, he had to come back and fulfill his promise with his long lost friend: winning the RRR Grand Prix.

He mentions you remind him of Giuliano, despite looking nothing like the man. You sure hope you don’t, but still. He then tells you to get some rest and prepare for the final race.

Your second car is tuned with a lot of added speed. Does the next course really require that much? In any case, you must win. For your manager. For Giuliano.

It’s. It’s an oval. The track is an oval. What’s the difficulty in this? There are 6 laps. Where are the other drivers? Are they really that far ahead? Nevermind you see some now.

You finish 4th.

But you can’t give up now! Your team needs you! Again!

You finish 3rd.

Fuck.

Again!

2nd now!? How in hell are you only progressing one placement at a time?

Only one chance remains. Please get 1st. For them. For you.

You drive every corner with the determination of a lifetime. How can an oval be so hard? How can such wide turns be so tight? How is this track so unforgiving that hitting the walls once costs you your entire career? You try your absolute best to understand the car’s workings, to understand how to cut as much time as possible, and yet… And yet.

You fail again. Your last chance? Gone. Just like that.

Your team lost. Your manager lost. Giuliano lost. You lost.

You are Sayo Hikawa, and the disappointment of the entire world sits on your shoulders.

The game over screen greets you with a disappointed voice telling you to try again later, on top of a sad background jingle. Your spirits are crushed. You don’t know if you have the will to try again.

A strong though not too cold breeze from an electric fan hits your face as you stop to think about tonight’s activities. The clock near you says 2 a.m..

You get up. You should brush your teeth, you think.

You open the lock to the bathroom door, and--

“Hello, Sayo. Come here often?”

Uh. Why. Why is there a girl in your bathroom.

“You must be asking yourself, ‘Kaoru Seta, oh handsome prince that you are, why in the world are you in my bathroom?’”

Indeed. Indeed you are.

“The answer is simple. After having heard you possessed a game I’m interested in playing, I left Hina’s presence to come and find you. Long story short, I got stuck inside this bathroom from which you just saved me. I must thank you for the rescue. Do not worry though, I was sleeping for most of it.”

“That is. Very concerning. And I must apologize for the trouble not noticing you may have caused. Such was not the behavior of a good host.”

“Do not fret, my dear kitten; I am in perfect health.”

Did she just call you a kitten? And her dear?

“I-I see…”

Despite what she claims, she does look very tired.

“Do you have an idea of how you’ll return home?”

“Well, I… Don’t know.”

“Before we decide that, then, I should get you something to eat. Do you like french fries, by chance?”

“Indeed I do! May I come with you to the kitchen?”

“You may, but make no noise; I would prefer not to wake up Hina.”

“Your wish is my command, my savior. I cannot imagine what she’s like when she’s sleep deprived.”

She called you a savior...

“Do you like racing games, by the way?” she asks.

“... Yes. Yes I do.”

“If you’d like, we should play some together.”

“Perhaps. I wouldn’t mind that.”

“Maybe… Tomorrow morning?”

“Here, once we wake up?”

“Of course!”

“I’ll see if I can clear my schedule.”

“It’s a race, then.”

“It is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, funny story about this chapter.  
> My original idea for it was to have Sayo play the easy mode and follow that story (in which the manager is a lady with expectations to break and whom Sayo gets interested in, only to show disappointment in that campaign's ending) but when I got the game open to replay that campaign, the little Sayo in my brain told me to choose the normal difficulty instead. So this chapter is literally just me narrating my performance in my second run in Ridge Racer Type 4 but with Sayo as me (and way more drama obviously)
> 
> Uhhh I hope you liked it though!


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